Department of Health Is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

The Market Basket Survey (MBS) is a cross-sectional survey of the costs and availability of basic food items in remote stores in the Northern Territory (NT).

The MBS includes a ‘food basket’ that consists of foods that meet the average energy and recommended nutrient needs of a family of 6 for a fortnight. It also collects information on the variety and quality of fresh fruit and vegetables and other data such as store management type andAboriginal employment. A major supermarket and corner store in each of the district centres are also surveyed to enable comparison of prices between urban and remote districts.

More details on the food basket and survey methodology can be found in the full 2014 NT Market Basket Survey report (available at

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Results

Seventy-nine remote stores were surveyed in 2014, the fifteenth annual survey in the NT.The 2014 survey is the first to be conducted in the northern Australian wet season. It was conducted at this time of yearto determine what impact, if any, the wet season has on the availability and cost of food due to road closures and a reliance on air freight for perishable goods.

Store characteristics

25% (20) of stores were owned and managed by the community or a local Aboriginal corporation.
39% (31) of stores were owned or managed by a store group [e.g. Arnhem Land Progress Association (ALPA) and Outback Stores].
32% (25) of stores were privately owned.
64% (51) of stores stated that they had a store committee.
51% (40) of stores stated that they had a nutrition policy
85% (65) of stores surveyed were licensed by the Australian Government, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
62% of employees were Aboriginal.
The proportion of Aboriginal employees was highest in stores that were either owned (89%) or managed (78%) by a store group (e.g. ALPA and Outback Stores)

Figure 1: Location of stores surveyed and cost of food basket in each district.

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Fruit and vegetable variety and quality

Figure 2: Average number of varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables, remote stores, 2000 –2014

Figure 3:Percentage of fresh fruit and vegetables rated as ‘good’, remote stores, 2000 - 2014

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Overall, since 2000 there has been an increase in the average number of varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables available in remote stores. Whilst there was a decrease in the proportion of fresh fruit and vegetables rated to be of ‘good’ quality in the 2012 and 2013 surveys, this proportion has generally increased from 2000 to 2014.

The wet season did not seem to influence the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables. The average number of fresh vegetable varieties was as high as previous dry season surveys and the average number of fresh fruit varieties available was higher than in previous surveys. The increase in varieties of fruit may be a reflection of an increase in varieties of fruit at this time of the year, e.g. a range of stone fruits are usually available at the time the survey was conducted in 2014.

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Cost of food basket

Table 1:Cost# of food basket by district, supermarkets, corner stores and remote stores, 2014

Alice Springs / Barkly / Darwin / East Arnhem / Katherine / NT Average
Bread & cereals
Supermarket / $99 / $98 / $99 / $92 / $98 / $97
Corner store
Remote stores / $121
$119 / -
$133 / $90
$120 / $116
$125 / $111
$119 / $110
$121
Fruit
Supermarket / $123 / $137 / $133 / $125 / $173 / $138
Corner store
Remote stores / $154
$210 / -
$197 / $146
$182 / $219
$203 / $190
$211 / $177
$201
Vegetables
Supermarket / $110 / $107 / $115 / $128 / $113 / $115
Corner store
Remote stores / $148
$179 / -
$169 / $143
$168 / $139
$190 / $147
$166 / $144
$174
Meat & alternative
Supermarket / $88 / $107 / $86 / $97 / $84 / $92
Corner store
Remote stores / $122
$123 / -
$130 / $97
$123 / $113
$132 / $109
$122 / $110
$125
Dairy
Supermarket / $80 / $133 / $83 / $84 / $82 / $92
Corner store
Remote stores / $160
$161 / -
$168 / $123
$164 / $145
$174 / $153
$157 / $145
$163
Other foods
Supermarket / $21 / $31 / $22 / $22 / $22 / $24
Corner store
Remote stores / $33
$41 / -
$42 / $31
$37 / $59
$42 / $36
$39 / $40
$40
Total basket
Supermarket / $521 / $613 / $538 / $548 / $571 / $558
Corner store / $739 / - / $630 / $791 / $746 / $726
Remote stores / $833 / $838 / $795 / $866 / $814 / $824
Number remote stores surveyed / 21 / 6 / 20 / 12 / 20 / 79

#Due to rounding of numbers the sum of food groups does not equal the total basket cost in some instances in Table 1.

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Supermarket

Barkly had the most expensive supermarket food basket ($613) and Alice Springs had the cheapest ($521).

Corner store

East Arnhem had the most expensive corner store food basket ($791) and Darwin had the cheapest ($630).
The average cost of the basket in the corner stores was 30% higher than in the district centre supermarkets ($726 compared to $558).

Remote stores

East Arnhem was the most expensive district ($866) and Darwin the least expensive ($795).
The food basket in remote stores was 13% higher than the district centre corner stores ($824 compared to $726) and 48% higher than the district centre supermarkets ($824 compared to $558).

In 2014 the cost of the food basket in remote stores was 53% higher than in the Darwin supermarket. This is the largest difference between remote stores and the Darwin supermarket than any previous year.

The wet season did not seem to influence the cost of perishable goods in remote stores as the increase was within the range that had occurred previously.

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Figure 4:Proportion of income needed to purchase the food basket, remote stores compared to Darwin supermarket, 2000 - 2014

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Family income was determined using social security figures obtained from Centrelink. In 2014, 34% of income was required to purchase the food basket in remote stores. The difference between the proportion of income required to purchase the food basket in remote stores compared to the Darwin supermarket was greatest in 2011 and 2012 (12%). There has been little variation (34 to 38%) in the proportion of income required to purchase the food basket in remote stores between 2000 and 2014.

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

Figure 5:Cost of the food basket compared with projected cost of the food basket with annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases, remote stores and Darwin supermarket, 2000 - 2014

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4

In remote stores the actual cost of the food basket was similar to the projected cost, except for 2011 when the actual cost was notably higher than expected.

In the Darwin supermarket the actual cost was markedly higher than the projected cost increases between 2006and 2009.

Department of Health is a Smoke Free Workplace Page 1 of 4